Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto can accomplish something just three pitchers in MLB history have done when he takes the mound in World Series Game 6This article contains affiliate links, we will receive a commission on any sales we generate from it. Learn more
Both of Yoshinobu Yamamoto’s MLB complete games have come this postseason(Image: Photo by Emilee Chinn/Getty Images)
Los Angeles Dodgers Game 6 starting pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto has the chance to accomplish something just three pitchers in MLB history have done.
Earlier in this World Series, Yamamoto became the first pitcher in 24 years to throw back-to-back complete games in the MLB playoffs after going the full nine innings in both Game 2 of the NLCS against the Milwaukee Brewers, then in Game 2 of the World Series against the Toronto Blue Jays.
On Friday night, Yamamoto can enter even more rarified air.
With another complete game, the 27-year-old will join Curt Schilling (2001), Orel Hershiser (1988), and Luis Tiant (1975) as the only pitchers in MLB history to record three straight complete games in a single postseason.
Tossing a complete game has become a lost art in recent years and is a massive task in a World Series elimination game, but the Dodgers may require it to keep their season alive.
Once commonplace in the major leagues, the complete game has gone by the wayside in the last five years as teams have committed more resources to their bullpens, using certain pitchers in specific situations that give them a matchup advantage.
Since 2020, there have been just 15 pitchers to throw a complete game. In the three years prior, between 2017 and 2020, 18 different pitchers accomplished the feat.
Before this postseason, the last pitcher to go the full nine in the playoffs was Justin Verlander in 2017.
Roki Sasaki and Yamamoto celebrate in the outfield after the Dodgers’ 18-inning win in Game 3(Image: Getty Images)
Throughout the 2025 playoffs, Blue Jays manager John Schneider has successfully utilized his bullpen to the point where his team is one win away from a World Series title.
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts hasn’t been so lucky. The Los Angeles bullpen was tabbed as the team’s biggest weakness entering the playoffs, and it has reared its ugly head in this series.
This postseason, the Dodgers’ bullpen owns a 4.56 ERA, compared to the 2.54 ERA of the starting rotation consisting of Yamamoto, Shohei Ohtani, Blake Snell, and Tyler Glasnow.
Even if Yamamoto allows hits and runs on Friday night, Roberts may stick with his star man rather than hand the ball to a less-trusted bullpen arm.
It wasn’t just during his starts that Yamamoto proved his unique ability to his teammates and the world. During the 18-inning marathon in Game 3, Yamamoto was shown warming up in the bullpen to potentially pitch in the 19th. The 27-year-old was on just one day of rest after his complete game in Toronto.
“That’s unbelievable,” Dodgers pitcher and future Hall of Famer Clayton Kershaw said of his teammate.
“He just threw a complete game two days ago. Cross-country travel. Get in at four in the morning. One day of rest basically. … Sometimes, that’s what you need to win a World Series.”